The Changeling
by miss selah
Summary: Sarah may have forgotten her debt to him, but Jareth hadn't...


** The Changeling**

_written on a whim; I love it when stories just escape my fingertips..._**  
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She hadn't planned this.

Sitting upright in her hospital bed, eyes darkened with pain, she squeezed her husbands hand and tried very hard not to scream.

They had told her that the pain would be almost unbearable; and yet somehow, she had thought that she would have been able to do this without the aid of modern medicine, so she had declined the epidural and bore the pain with as much grace as a laboring woman could manage. She cursed herself in every language she could think of, and then a few extra, for deciding to make herself a martyr. She couldn't remember at this point what exactly the cons were that had made her chose to decline it, and when she began to beg the nurse for it, the stout little creature that had taken over the last nurse's shift told her that she was too far along at this point to receive one, and she would just have to suffer through it for a little while longer.

It hadn't even been terribly long before she had regretted her decision, but her husband stood by her side the whole time reaffirming her choices. Telling her she was doing beautifully. Making her stare in to his eyes, to focus on the sound of his voice. It wasn't really helping her out any, but she understood that he needed to feel useful too. After all, she could understand that he must have felt fairly useless, standing their while she obviously suffered excruciating amounts of pain for the sake of the child they had never even discussed conceiving.

Honestly, she wasn't even sure how it had happened. They had been so careful, always used protection, but when that test had come back positive, Gerald scooped her in to his wide, dark arms and held her close, telling her that he would be alright with whatever she decided to do. And while Sarah had planned on a career that would be nigh impossible now, she couldn't bring herself to snuff out the life that they had created.

Eight months later, she found herself there, in a hospital room that stank of something both unpleasant and hauntingly familiar, her dark husband by her side, getting ready to bear him their mulatto child. Oh, she prayed it was a girl... a dark skinned, dark hair girl with her soft brown eyes... their was nothing that she could imagine would be more beautiful.

Sarah grimaced as another contraction swept her body, and tried to put on a good face for her husband. He had been so supportive, so caring, and even though she hadn't planned on having any children, she was happy that it had happened. It wasn't the life that they had mapped out for themselves, but she was certain that they would find happiness in the choices they made. She had always made happiness happen for herself, and this would be no exception.

A nurse came in and checked her, and told her, smiling, that it was just about time to start pushing. Sarah sighed happily. Soon, she told herself, soon it would all be over. In another hour or so, she would get to hold their child in her arms, and all of this pain would be a faded memory.

She could make it.

She would.

The second hand ticked by slowly, even slower, and Sarah watched it unblinkingly as she counted through the contractions. They were getting longer, and stronger, and closer together, and as she stared at that clock with eyes unfocused, she would have sworn that it really _was _going by slower, although she knew that was impossible.

Her head began to loll, her neck weak, and the nurse helped her right it. "You are almost there," she told Sarah. "Just a few more minutes and you'll get to hold your child."

Sarah nodded, and willed herself to be stronger, stronger still. She was mighty, she told herself. She could do anything.

She thought that she heard laughter from beyond the curtain, but she couldn't be sure.

"Nurse!" Sarah saw that Gerald had started, and she realized that she had spoken louder than she had intended to. "Could you please shut the door?" The laughter was giving her a headache. It was almost mocking, and cold, and she didn't want to have to listen to it while she was in this state.

"Don't worry, dear," the short, stout nurse assured her. "The door is closed, no one would hear you if you wanted to scream."

She do, oh, Sarah _did _want to scream, but somehow, in her heart of hearts, the thought bothered her, so she shook her head. "No, its not that at all..."

Another contraction swept through her body, and the rest of her sentence was lost to her.

"Oh, Sarah," Gerald whispered breathlessly, "I can see it's head…"

The nurse peeked around and smiled, and for a moment, Sarah could have sworn that the teeth were _pointed. _"Oh, yes, what a nice head then, good strong head. Not the kind that can be easily lost, my dear." The nurse pulled on a surgical mask and picked up a scalpel. "That's a good trait, you know. No doubt got it from his father."

Something in her voice sounded familiar, but Sarah couldn't put her finger on it. Still, something was disturbing her, and it was hard to ignore her senses. "What is the scalpel for?" Sarah asked, panting. "Shouldn't we wait for the doctor?"

The nurse made eye contact with her, and Sarah noticed for the first time how dark and wrinkled the old nurses skin actually was… and what an unusual shade of yellow her eyes were! Still, she reasoned with herself, the nurse had introduced herself when she was already far into her labor, and she hadn't really been focusing that much on her caretaker's appearance. Still, she did look an awful sight…

"Doctor couldn't make it, deary," the nurse said, "and the scalpel is just in case you begin to tear…"

Sarah felt something swipe at her middrift, and saw Gerald's brow furrow. "Sarah," he began, his voice confused, "I thought that everyone in your family had dark hair…"

All other words were lost to her as she bore down, no longer able to hold back her screams. Something deep inside of her burned, and she pushed against it, trying to get it out of her body. Her child suddenly felt foreign, and unsafe, and her heart raced as she struggled to free herself from it.

The laughter that she thought she could hear before had multiplied, matching her tenor as she screamed, and while she couldn't be sure, she would have sworn that the lights flickered off as she gave in and let her body do what it would. She trusted her body; trusted it to free her from this agony.

The door opened, but Sarah didn't notice who walked in, nor the panicked sound of her husbands voice as he released her hand and took a step away from her bed. She just stared at the clock on the wall, stared and panted as she counted the seconds.

_One. Two. _

"Who are you?" Gerald's voice was growing more and more distanced, but she didn't have the strength to focus on that.

_Three. Four. _

"Me?" A familiar, mocking tone retorted saucily.

_Five. Six. _

"Is it the doctor?!" Sarah asked, panting as she arched in the bed to accommodate the child's head.

_Seven. Eight. _

"Almost there," the nurse assured her. _"Push." _

_Nine. Ten. _

"Well?!" Gerald seemed to have recovered his nerve, because Sarah saw him take a step forward. Suddenly, without warning, Gerald collapsed on the floor.

_Eleven. Twelve. _

"I'm the father."

_Thirteen. _

Sarah screamed as the baby freed itself from her womb, slipping out of her and in to the world, screaming. She calmed herself, panting, and turned her head away from the clock on the wall to the man who had invaded her delivery room.

When she saw who it was, her stopped almost stopped in her chest.

"_You!." _She hissed, and tried to push herself out of bed.

The nurse wiped the baby's blonde head down, and Sarah saw what Gerald had seen as soon as the child opened its eyes… that fair skinned, honey haired child could have never been an offspring of his. And those mismatched eyes affirmed her worst fears.

"Congratulations, sire." Sarah all at once recognized the old woman who had tried to entomb her in her childhood trinkets. "It's a boy."

Jareth smirked as he gathered the boy – their _son – _in to his arms. "What a handsome little chap," he touched the boys nose with a gloved finger. "Wouldn't you agree, Sarah dear?"

Tears flood her eyes as she tried to stand, but couldn't find the strength in her to do anything more than lift her head. "Give me the child!" She pleaded helplessly from her place in the bed, covered in sweat and blood.

"Oh, but Sarah dear, didn't you realize?" Jareth asked, gathering the infant close. "You owe me a boy…"

He faded away, and Gerald groaned as he came to.

"What?" Gerald stood and saw that Sarah was sobbing. He went to her quickly, and gathered her close to him. "What happened? Where's our baby?"

"He took him." Sarah sobbed out, after long, heart wrenching moments. "Jareth took him!"

"Who is it?" Gerald voice raised in pitch, and he released Sarah's body only to get a firm grip on her shoulders as he shook her. "Where did he go? I'll kill him!"

Sarah had no doubt. But as the ringing laughter of the Goblins faded away, Sarah knew exactly where he was, and it was a place that no human could ever reach.

Sarah knew her son was beyond her reach.

"He's gone, Gerald." She whispered, shaking. "Our son is gone."

She had _never _planned this.


End file.
